Halloween

Looks like we all will have to wait a while more before we could release "Detour". There have been some short delays, due to us been tighted down on our day job. So, have to reschedule for another release date soon. Keep on tracking the progress. Also, a I am reserving sometime to finish up the 2nd part of "4". Happy Halloween!

Detour - The Final Touches

Finally, "Detour" is done! Luckilly there was Ananth as the editor as he just makes the process so smoothly. He and Jayanth even went to the extend to find the film score for the whole movie. When I arrived at Ananth's place, I quickly ran up to his suite to look at the revised cut of the film. So far we did 3 cuts already, and the 3rd cut was the final. To my surprise, the whole music score and effect was almost as I have imagine. So, we got started and when through the visual again, to get the most accurate timing and then the music score and effects which took most of the time.

But it felt good, so satisfying to see it finished. We now have to go back to cut a trailer and add subtitling to the movie. Ceekay will be working on the subtitle, which it's his area of expertise. The whole visual look was treated to as we have poor lighting while shooting. Some parts didnt really stand out, but we did the best we could to the capability we currently have. Still, I am glad and the whole film was actually better than I have expected. Next update will be the trailer.

Detour - The Crew

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the crew for committing their time and effort to this project. Here are the crew who deserve the acknowledgement :-

Ananth
Sugu
Ceekay
Jayanth
Rama

Also I would like to credit the others who helped inspire this project :-

Kee Poey
Ian Khoo
Chue Yee
Elina
Christina
Ryan
Aliyar

Detour - The Direction

Right from the start I knew what kind of films I will eventually make. My style of film direction is very much influnced by the films from the 70's era and director Quentin Tarantino. I just like the realism of the acting as opposed to crafted dialogue. Even the camera work in "Detour" are from the style of before, extreme long-shot, extreme close-up. These camera angles are seldom used in current films of late, due to new technology available. In "Detour", the direction we chose was very much a tribute to the 70's horror feel. The term "low budget" really fit our style, but for our case, we when a step further..."no budget".

Detour - The Cast

Due to the simplicity of the storyline, "Detour" phisically only have 2 actors. That's why this story is the most suitable for us to produce due to our limitation in resources. Like I mentioned, I wrote the characters in "Detour" based on my 2 friends, Rama and Ceekay. It didn't took me long to get them on-board to this project, as they themselves belong to this industry. I was a feeling a bit negative about Rama's willingness to act for me, and he did even doubling up as the cameraman. Ceekay too gave more than becoming just an actor, as he also contributed much to at the editing stage and eventually providing the subtitles to "Detour".

I knew all along they can act and have the chemistry to pull this off. That was all confirmed during rehearsal of the script. During the rehearsal, I was blown away with their chemistry, and their initiative to make the script more real. Though this is just a short film, more of a personal project...I when ahead and treated the whole process as a real production. Script revisions, location scouting, talent auditions, rehearsals....practically the whole works.

There was a point where I wasn't sure if Rama and Ceekay would agree to act for me, and so I did move with plan b, looking for the actors. Ananth was involve when the plan b was rolling. He also suggested me to take one of the roles...which I thought...that I would be the last choice. So, there you have it...in the end I found my actors...actually my original actors for "Detour"...please to introduce Rama and Ceekay!

Detour - The Story

"Detour" is a story of two buddies going out to for a mamak session, which on their way got detoured to a visit to a haunted house.

Detour - The Beginning

Alrite...about "Detour"...It's a short story I wrote couple of years ago, based on 2 friends of mine when we were all working in the same place. The story here is simple and suppose to give a feel of what ghost movies should be, I meant under the context of ghost movie. I shelved this project away...until 2 months back, where I had a meet with my buddy Ananth and Sugu. Sugu a lawyer by profession, was already venturing into his passion...music, and even has an album...all done on his own time and expense. So, we met after a while and started catching up on each other...the "ghost" story time just slipped into our conversation, and got me thinking of my selved projects. Then Ananth said, "eh, comelah, let's do your ghost movie man!". Within seconds...I said "Yes! Let's do it". Ananth Kumar is an video/film editor, for a very esthablish post-production house in PJ. We share the same passion for films, music and this will mark our 1st collaboration.

That was it...the defining moment. Quickly, I went back to finish up the script and came up with the timeline for when we should shoot this. This time around, finishing the script was tougher because now I have to factor all locations, logistics into the plan. Bear in mind, this project has no budget...and I mean NO BUDGET. I sadly have to revised the original script to fit into the current situations. I have originally wrote about 6 to 7 short ghost stories at that period, but will only choose 4 for the final feature. "Detour" was not the choosen story to be in "4", but of all stories, it was the most suitable story to be shot at our current situation. Without budget, proper equipments, manpower and etc.

Taking A Break

I will be away till the weekend for a short holiday, so during these few days there will be no postings. I will start posting from next week onwards. So, see you all soon. Have a good weekend ahead.

"4"

"4" was a product of watching many horror films. From western horror to eastern horror, I have seen most of them, and I like it, I like being scare. Horror films are the most fun movies to watch, you actually feel it while watching, and even after that. The topic itself has puzzled mankind even till today, does ghost exist? Hmm...and that's why I decide to write "4". I find that the only reason we watch horror, it to get scared, so why not get scare 4 times more. Make the scare trip more meaningful, more worth the price, blah, blah... So the birth of "4", all collected from stories we hear from friends or friend's friend. In "4" all stories are simple and they dont try to find an answers or try to have an ending to the story, but just simple scary movie. So, after about 6 years, I have now shot the 1st part, titled "Detour". Coming next, the insight to "Detour". Stay tuned.

Passion for Film-Making

Having more than a decade in the TV/Broadcasting industry, I have now finally step into film making. Along the years I have wrote many stories or scripts of the movies which I may produce. I am strongly influence by martial arts, horror and mystery film genres. I have also done many research on my own time on film industry in Malaysia, which is sadly still at it's early stage. In restropect, to my opinion, our film industry died when P.Ramlee died (hope I didn't sound too tragic).

Since then we never really had any movie hits which we can proudly talk about. But many Malaysians will always have comment on P.Ramlee's movies. Regardless the race, many are really into his movies. Beautiful script, simple story and acting was the success of all P.Ramlee's movies.

The blend of the multi-racial was beautifully crafted into the storyline in almost all his productions. The realism of the way of "Malaysian Life" was really captured, as opposed to today's Malaysian movies...mostly a bit fake.

Anyway, back to me...my latest film-making venture is a horror feature, titled "Detour". It's the 1st of the four chapter of "4", which consist 4 ghost stories. This project started 6 years ago, and finally I get to make it. Will feed you all more on "4" on the coming updates.

Welcome

Welcome all bloggers! Finally, my own blog...do stay tune for the coming days or weeks for more updates on stuffs in here. Will be right back!